Heather du Plessis-Allan Drive

The latest Federated Farmers Confidence Survey indicates more farmers are turning a profit, but there's still some industry concerns to consider. Of nearly 650 farmers who responded to the survey in late January and early February, 70 percent said their farm was currently profitable - the highest since the survey was launched.  The Country's Jamie Mackay explained further. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Tonight on The Huddle, Jordan Williams from the Taxpayers' Union and former Green MP Gareth Hughes joined in on a discussion about the following issues of the day - and more! The Government is looking to possibly scrap the Clean Car Standard, and a review is under way. Do we think this is likely to go ahead? Trade Me is ditching their 'success fees' and bank transfers as part of a new overhaul. Do we think this is a good idea? Do we prefer Facebook Marketplace anyway? LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On the Heather du Plessis-Allan Drive Full Show Podcast for Thursday, 5 March, 2026, we ask Transport Minister Chris Bishop why the government's looking at scrapping the clean car standard altogether. A Gisborne farmer tells us why he's got a beef with changes to the rural school bus service. Black Cap Cole McConchie on what it was like having a front-row seat to Finn Allen's blistering century - the fastest-ever at a T20 World Cup. And on The Huddle with Jordan Williams and Gareth Hughes we hear how there could be more polling bad news for National. Get the Heather du Plessis-Allan Drive Full Show Podcast every weekday evening on iHeartRadio, or wherever you get your podcasts. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

So the latest climate drama involving this Government is that they’re being accused of lining up to scrap the Clean Car Standards altogether. And I would say to the EV lobby group pushing this line that they may want to just settle down. Even those of us -and I’m looking straight at myself here - who want to see the standards dropped altogether do not think it’s going to happen. That would take political courage and I do not think this Government has that on a subject like this in an election year. Now, what I’m talking about, if you don’t follow all of the details, is the twin of the ute tax. This is the other part of that policy that was brought in at the same time. It’s a penalty that importers have to pay for every dirty car they bring into the country, in the hope that it will encourage them to instead go for the cleaner cars - the EVs. It was recently dropped right down at the end of the year and it’s now up for consultation. The Government is considering overhauling the system. One of the questions being asked in the consultation is whether it should just be abolished altogether. Now I’d love it to be because it hasn’t worked. Consumers simply do not want to buy that many EVs in this country. The only thing this standard has done is reduce the number of Japanese cars - which we love - coming into the country in the past five years, from 150,000 a year to 90,000 a year. That’s down 45 percent and apparently most of this, according to dealers, is because of the Clean Car Standard.And you don’t have to be a rocket scientist to figure out what that does to prices. If you’re bringing in so many fewer cars, what happens to prices? That’s right - they go up. And who pays that? That’s right - you and I. I don’t love that. The other thing it’s done is force 244 dealers - just last year - to shut down because they couldn’t get enough cars. So I’d love to see the standard scrapped. It’s only making our cars more expensive, it’s only putting people out of business, and as we know, it’s going to do nothing for the climate because New Zealand is insignificant in the scheme of global emissions. But it will not be scrapped because every other developed nation apart from Russia is applying standards like this, so we’ll be stuck playing the game too. “Should it be abolished?” is, I’m sorry to say, just a question to make the Government look like it’s considering everything - but it is not actually considering everything, and we’re probably stuck with this. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

People will have to pay with cash after a Trade Me sale if they want to avoid a fee. The company's removing its 7.9 percent 'success fee' for casual selling - keeping only a small service fee. Along with Afterpay and cash, Trade Me uses its own payment system, Ping - taking just over two percent from every sale.  Trade Me’s Head of Marketplace Lisa Stewart says bank transfers will now be against their policy. "We've got teams of folks who scan the site to check that nothing dodgy is going on, if they catch that that kind of behaviour's happening, we'd look to educate our customers." LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Black Caps have been launched into the T20 World Cup final, and the Kiwi side's thrilled. New Zealand have thrashed previously unbeaten South Africa by nine wickets in the first semifinal, with Finn Allen smashing 100 not out from 33 balls. Black Caps player Cole McConchie says Allen gave a 'world-class' performance. "That was some innings, he had to put out a performance like that in a semi-final from him - that was incredibly special." LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Minister for Transport says scrapping the Clean Car Standard's being considered.  The standard imposes fees on importers bringing high emitting vehicles into the country. A Transport Ministry-led review recently involved consultations with the vehicle industry, where they were asked for their thoughts on possible abolishment.  Chris Bishop says this type of review, by definition, must look at the need for something overall.  "It would be fair to say not that many people are keen on scrapping it altogether, we're going through a process with industry right now and we do want to see cleaner cars in New Zealand over time." LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Young men are increasingly the focus of our security agencies - as they're captured by extremist content online.  That's according to the boss of the Security Intelligence Service, who fronted MPs at Parliament yesterday.  Massey University Senior Fellow at the Centre for Defence and Security Studies, John Battersby, says many of those being radicalised are isolated.  "I think we're probably talking about a fairly small minority of individuals who possibly don't feel they belong somewhere - a little bit detached from the real world. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

It's still unclear when our Defence Force will be able to evacuate New Zealanders out of war-afflicted areas in the Middle East. Kiwis there are being urged to alert SafeTravel, with 3000 already registered in the region. Defence Minister Judith Collins says our planes will leave in the coming days and will take people to safer nearby areas, when conditions allow. She says they're prepared to take thousands if necessary. "Well, if they wanted to go, we would simply have to make it happen, but we would obviously have to do it in relays."  LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Broadcasting minister Paul Goldsmith says he may have' grunted' at TVNZ's board chair after Andrew Barclay raised a crime story with him. Goldsmith was quizzed about the exchange by Labour's Reuben Davidson in Question Time on Thursday afternoon. Newstalk ZB senior political correspondent Barry Soper explained further. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.